UGP / DPON specification

An idea is to make a specification that will allow other people/vendors to write a DPON-capable client.

The specification will need to contain:

• The wire protocol.
• A bytecode specification.
• An API specification.
• ...?

The target audiences would be: client authors, replication algorithm developers, developers using the APIs. Perhaps it would be better to make several interrelated specifications, such as:

• SecureSqueak developer's guide: ANSI Smalltalk, Namespaces, Dominions, Canvas and events, exception handling.
• UGP developer's guide: Implementing replication algorithms, message capture, key management, ...
• UGP implementer's guide: wire protocol, implementations of core rep algs, bytecode format. This would include the minimum information needed to make a client which can load more replication algorithms over the network and use them.

The wire protocol.

This is currently based on DPON's own implementation.

• Packet format.
• VAT ID generation.
• Mapping object numbers to objects; common languages between vats.
• Base replication algorithms - the minimum needed to load bytecodes and execute them.
• * The stupid repalgs: TrueRepAlg, FalseRepAlg, NilRepAlg, etc.
• * Rep algs and serialization methods for for SmallInteger, String, Symbol, Float, Association, Array, Dictionary, ...
• * Package, Namespace, Class, MethodDictionary rep algs.

The bytecode specification

• The bytecodes and basic allowable primitives.
• How the bytecode verifier should work (optional?).

The API specification

• APIs for Kernel, Collections, Networking, DPON basics.
• APIs for canvas, events.
• Namespaces, packages and associated Repalgs.
• Dominion APIs.
• Exception handling.
• Message capture.
• Replication algorithm implementations, methods available.

Also, initial dominion setting recommendations should be made.

The user interface, navigation, etc is implemented in bytecodes and doesn't need to be in the specification.

A later version of the specification would specify APIs for sound, 3-D graphics, printers, files, etc.

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